Writing a marketing plan for a business or product is the first and most critical step in making it a success. In this article Limeminds aims to provide you with a template from which you can develop your own marketing plan over and over again.
1. Executive Summary – This section is the headline, the grabber and the summary of your plan. Whilst it will be positioned at the front of the plan it will most likely be written last as it encapsulates everything your marketing plan aims to deliver.
Try to keep the summary around the 350 words mark and make it to the point.
2. Situation – What is the need for the business/product? What does the current market look like?
You should look to answer these questions and others through a mix of techniques
a. SWOT analysis
b. PESTLE analysis
c. Competitor analysis
This section should also include commentary on the market and its current trends, an overview of you company and it performance in this area and an overview of the customers including size of market and type of customers.
3. Objectives or Targets – This section should be used to define what success will look like. Provide your marketing and financial goals along with some commentary as to when they are there.
4. Strategy – Here you will describe the plan to deliver your objectives, work around the 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place & Promotion). Highlight your USP and describe in detail how you will reach your target market.
Within this section you may want to include an overview of alternative strategies, this may add weight to reasons why you decided upon the chosen strategy.
5. Implementation and Budget – The final section should give the details of how and when you will implement the plan and how much you expect it to cost. Detail and accuracy are key here especially if you require an investor or manager to agree to your plan.
